Just a scratch

Last month saw the EU Directive of 2010 pass into UK law as the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013. This new UK legislation requires healthcare professionals to assess the risk; and control it. For many it will mean a change not only to their habits but also to the equipment they use in order to comply. So are the risks really worthy of the new legislation and how easy will it be to adapt to within your practice?

Until it happens to you, the threat of infection with blood-borne viruses such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV carried by a patient may not be at the forefront of your mind. You might even assume that HIV is becoming less prevalent, however a report by the Health Protection Agency in 2012 revealed that the number of people living with HIV in the UK actually increased by an estimated 4,500 (from 91,500 to 95,000) from the previous year and that 24 per cent of that total were unaware of their infection. While important progress is being made in reducing the incidence of AIDS through antiretroviral therapies, HIV remains a very serious infection with high treatment and care costs and significant mortality.